Presentations & Other Resources

• Presentation: Steve Torosian, Forest Recruiting Group
• Thought Leaders Initiative Participants Report
• Presentation: Elizabeth Oplatka, Gateway Technical College
• WCEDA's Educational Opportunities
• Fundamentals of Supervision
• Top Level Leadership
• Spanish for Business
• Bring Your "A" Game
• Event Breakout Group Presentations

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Derek D'Auria

Executive Director
Walworth County Economic Development Alliance (WCEDA)

The Walworth County Economic Development Alliance (WCEDA) is your source for all things business — workforce, expansions, location resources, financial connections, legislative advocacy, career awareness with youth, networking events, and initiatives to address county-wide issues like housing.

Jesse Adams

President
Adams

Adams is a family owned, industry-leading Electrical, HVAC, SmartTech, Solar, Generator and Plumbing provider. Since 1988 Adams has created Powerful Solutions for homes and businesses in Wisconsin and Illinois. They're driven by their Core Values (Integrity, People, Attitude, Partnership and Excellence) and aims to be an integral part of the growth and prosperity of their customers.

Steve Torosian

Thought Leaders Initiative Participants Report
Forest Recruiting Group

steve@forestrecruitinggroup.com

Steve Torosian is the owner of Forest Recruiting Group and an administrator with the Affiliated Recruiters Network (ARN). With over 28 years in executive recruiting, Steve specializes in professional and technical roles across manufacturing—especially in wood and metal processes like fabrication, welding, machining, and industrial assembly.

Steve is known for his deep network, proprietary database, and ability to identify high-impact talent in operations, engineering, finance, HR, and EHS. His hands-on, insight-driven approach has made him a go-to partner for companies seeking to grow with integrity, efficiency, and a people-first mindset.

Thought Leadership Initiative
In Q4 of 2024, to help make sense of a highly complex and fast-changing manufacturing landscape, I launched a Thought Leadership Initiative. Drawing from 28 years in recruiting and my network of deeply respected operations leaders, I conducted a series of personal phone calls with executives, directors, and managers across the country.

These were not surveys or email blasts. They were thoughtful, one-on-one conversations. The goal was to understand not just what companies were doing, but why—and how they were thinking about hiring, investment, risk, and opportunity heading into 2025.

Each conversation was guided by a consistent framework of questions, but the results were anything but formulaic. Leaders spoke candidly about their people, strategy, technology investments, evolving challenges, and market dynamics. Some were optimistic. Others were bracing for disruption. Many were still evaluating what normal would look like in the year ahead.

From those discussions came patterns—and from those patterns, insights. I’ve compiled the results into an anonymized, digestible report designed to give decision-makers across manufacturing a strategic advantage. The TLI validated some concerns and challenged participants to learn from the experiences and solutions of others.

Whether you’re navigating headcount decisions, capital projects, automation, or workforce development, this report reflects real-world thinking from leaders who are in the thick of it every day. It’s not theory. It’s what’s actually happening on the ground.

Elizabeth Oplatka

Leadership and Supervision, Business and Workforce Solutions
Gateway Technical College

Oplatkae@gtc.edu

Liz is an experienced consultant, coach, manager, educator, and business/government journalist with a unique combination of proven competencies in organizational psychology, organizational development, communication, strategic leadership, and change management. Liz coaches and teaches current and future leaders; supports and influences businesses; uses proven tools to assess current behaviors, need and program effectiveness; builds lasting teams and coalitions; improves employee engagement; revitalizes struggling enterprises and helps developing organizations through growing pains.

She has been coaching, consulting, and training in organizations and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate programs for more than 15 years. Prior to that, she practiced what she preaches as a business and government journalist known for turning around floundering enterprises and offering leadership expertise to the industries she covered. She also worked as an employee assistance professional, coaching and counseling in the Loyola University Health System Employee Assistance Program.

Liz earned a dual master’s degree in organizational psychology and counseling from the Adler School of Professional Psychology; a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University; and a liberal arts BA from Illinois Wesleyan University.